Acting KwaZulu-Natal high court judge Sthembiso Mdladla and his co-accused Siphiwe Mkhize, former head of the agriculture and rural development department, were granted bail in the Pietermaritzburg magistrate’s court after their arrest on Tuesday.
Acting KwaZulu-Natal judge president Isaac Madondo will on Wednesday give his ruling on an application for an interdict to stop Prince Misuzulu kaZwelithini from becoming the king of the Zulu nation.
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Abdul Balma, a street vendor in central Durban was stabbed several times and his merchandise torched on Monday according to eyewitnesses.
Balma, originally from Burkina Faso, and another man, from Senegal, were assaulted during the incident which took place at the corner of Ingcuce (Albert) and Bertha Mkhize (Victoria) streets.
According to eyewitnesses, Balma was set upon by a group of about ten men who said immigrants must leave South Africa.
A South African national, who did not want to be named, said the men poured petrol on the clothes Balma sells and set them alight. She said he was brave to have stood up to them, but “they started beating him and he was stabbed”.
Acting KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Kwazi Mshengu, has urged police to defend themselves relentlessly when faced with heavily armed criminals after yet another police officer was ruthlessly gunned in the latest spate of police killings that has plagued the province.
Mshengu’s spokesperson Gugu Sisalana said in a statement that police officer, Sergeant Thamsanqa Mbedu, was killed while he was on duty, alone in his vehicle, performing investigation duties in the Iniwe area at around 9.20pm.
“Sergeant Mbedu was driving when he was blocked by a vehicle that was parked on the road next to Dick’s Tavern. He switched on the blue lights trying to alert the driver of the parked vehicle to move the vehicle out of the road,” she said.